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Friday, August 31, 2018

One of the members of the Representative Assembly of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, Bagheera Kristan, has resigned from his office. Lilith Ivory, the Dean of the Scientific Council, announced there will be special elections to see who will take his seat.

"To be eligible to stand for by-election you must be on the Citizen List revised on August 4th, which can be found here:http://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=8581. Your declaration of candidacy must be given to Lilith Ivory, by inworld notecard: deadline for declarations of candidacy is midnight SLT, Monday September 3th. Your candidacy will be announced inworld and in the SC Announcements Forum. You may choose to announce your candidacy in other locations also, but that is not required."

CDS citizens can declare their intention to run up to Monday Sept. 3. Then nominations are closed and a list of the declared candidates is made available. Campaigning can start on Sept. 10. Polls open on Sept. 17 and close on Sept 24.

"If you are considering to stand for this office, please read the Constitution and Code of Laws."

Tuesday August 28 was the day The Avagora Mall at Montecito Bay had a release party for a new product: the Milky Way Kirin Mod. The event had four raffles, three of which were for gift cards to the Milky Way store, the fourth which was for a free modded avatar. There was also a "Come As You Are" contest that started out for 3400 Lindens, but people added more and more to the prize, 5000 Lindens, 10,000 Lindens, and finally at 13,001 Linden dollars. "That board, think it was about to blow up," someone would comment in the Discord chat. There were about 42 people in the sim at one point, presumably all but maybe one or two at the event.

“Sterile Neutrinos: a new particle not known to our Standard Model?”
Saturday September 1
10 AM - 11 AM PDT
By Rob Knop

"Over the last year, sterile neutrinos have been in the news. There is some suggestion that evidence for them is present inexperimental data, but it’s still very uncertain. If they’re real, itwould
be very exciting for particle physics, which has the interesting
conundrum of a model that is *too good* — in that it’s been decadessince there has been any real surprises in particle physics. A new andunknown particle would mean that we’re finally venturing into deeperexplorations of the fundamental nature of high-energy physics; it couldpotentially have cosmological implications as well. In this talk, I’llgive a summary of the Standard Model of Particle Physics, and describehow amazingly (and, indeed, disappointingly) successful it’s been inpredicting and explaining the results of particle physics experiments.I will describe what neutrinos are, and how regular neutrinos differfrom sterile neutrinos. Finally, I’ll talk about the possibilities thatwe’ve seen sterile neutrinos, and what the implications are."

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Safra Nitely has gotten attention for her Christmas Village every year, and in the past for her Relay team "Ministry of Dance." But what she's been active the most with is her village in the sky high above Devon Dream for her closest friends and virtual family, "Darkwing." Well decorated, the buildings look like they're from the pages of a book of a magical fantasy land. The walkways connect the buildings, in addition to leading to the stables and playground areas down below. She holds occasional events at a small club. One Halloween party I went to, Safra had gone all-out with spooky trees, fog, and other decorations.

But Safra isn't quite satisfied with the area, fancy as it is. She messaged me to remind me she keeps looking to see how things can be improved. In this case, the walkway railings, looking to see what could look still better.

Much of the place is open to the public, the club being at Devon Dream (207/31/3992). it should be noted that some of the village is reserved just for friends and family, so if a place has a sign mentioning that, please respect it. Also, Safra wants her friends and SL family to have fun, so some of the village does have adult overtones.

There's a new but promising club in the southeast corner of the Instruments sim: The CrystalRose Lounge. I had a few words with one of it's staff, CatNinja (Little Lockjaw), "I'm co-owner, also general manager."

Inviting me over, there was music being played by DJ Aria, from pop music from Disney. CatNinja would tell me there were two other DJs, DJ Lemonhead and DJ Turdpile, "'Turdpile' is more a throw to a friend at BlackMediaGames." The three DJs play most any kind of music except for rap. lakeishaFayrre Resident is the founder and owner of CrystalRose Lounge.

The Lounge itself is a two story building. The outside has the club logo on a sign curved inward. On the inside, the first floor has the dance floor and DJ stage. CatNinja told me they're in the process of making the ground floor look like an underwater area, "Down here, the floor represents a kelp forest." They still need to get items to make the undersea look more convincing, "I'm still looking for coral and kelp plants." The middle of the ceiling of the first floor had a rippling look, that was slightly red, "The underside of the water represents blood from a shark." "Fish blood of course," commented Angel Lefavre (Ltmeirna Resident).

There's not much on the upper story at the moment. For now, there are just a few games for people to play between events. But this will change. CatNinja says they plan to put a few more games there, "and we are accepting donations/tips & suggestions for new ones." People can already play the 7Seas fishing game there. At least one player of Tiny Empires was also around. Of the club's dress code, there really isn't much of one. All types of avatars are permitted in the club. The only really hard rule is, "No male bits. Furs may be naked (otherwise)."

CatNinja told me they plan to offer other parts of the sim up for rent to other residents. Despite the sims adult rating, she says they want to keep things "family oriented" for now, at least outside peoples homes. There are also three shops set up, with two rented, with plans for a mini-mall.

The CrystalRose Lounge is also hiring, wanting to have more DJs, hosts and hostesses, security, and dancers (not away-from-keyboard ones, but those who will respond to people, especially tippers). CatNinja says they're cooperating with the Drunken Parrot Tavern in the Sunweaver area on this, with a joint job application form (click here to read and fill out the form).

Update: Someone on the staff informed me that the Lounge has been taken down. While plans for the CrystalRose have been shelved indefinitely, the Drunken Parrot Tavern is still taking on new applicants (click here to read and fill out the form).

On Sunday August 26, a fundraiser on Veterans Isle took place. It was a monthly event for the "Homes For Our Troops" charity organized in part by musician Frets Nirvana. Several other live performers took part, including Zak Claxton, Toxie Darkmatter, Dirtydee Sweetwater, and Savannah Coronet. "Come on out, enjoy great music, and help support our extremely wounded vets!"

The fundraiser took in 287,300 Linden dollars, collected by the two kiosks on both sides of the stage. This was the first time more than a quarter million Lindens were raised for the charity at a single event.

The mission of Homes For Our Troops is, "To build and donate specially adapted
custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 Veterans, to
enable them to rebuild their lives." The charity has been given a four-star rating by Charity Navigator. To learn more, go to https://www.hfotusa.org/

Less than half of the mass of land has been detailed into sea, mountains, rivers, and lakes. The majority still appears to be default green flat land. This is sure to change as time goes on. But among the new sims that was detailed was SSP124, which was made up of islands that looked like a smiley-face with the word "Hi!" and waving back at those looking at it from above. As Tyche put it, "Do they know I'm watching?" The answer seems to be yes.

There's still no word from Linden Lab on what the land is for, though that hasn't stopped speculation, one person commenting after Tyche's post that she thought it would be for both Linden homes and a new game. It's possible that the details will be revealed in the Town Hall with Ebbe Linden next month. In any case, stay tuned for more information.

Monday, August 27, 2018

A Kindle mystery novel whose unknown villain appears only as a sexy avatar is being offered free to SL participants through Sunday, September 2. To get your complimentary enovel, “Femme Fatale Online” by Eugene Rodgers, email a request to rodgersmystery@gmail.com (your SL anonymity is safe since you don’t have to disclose your avatar or RL names). Include the word “Newser” in the email.

You will receive a PDF copy, the same as we send to professional reviewers. (Amazon doesn’t allow authors to give out free copies in the same form as books ordered from them). You can read the book on Kindles, tablets, computers, and phones.

The book captivates readers with its story of an avatar who blackmails the hero, Rick, into industrial espionage and threatens the lives of him and his family. Detailed information on the book and author can be found on the book’s Amazon page (go to Amazon.com, search for “Femme Fatale Online,” and click on the title when it comes up) and on the book’s Facebook page (facebook.com/rodgersmystery).

Enjoy the challenge of following the clues, identifying the red herrings, and trying to figure out the real person behind the terrifying “Joan” avatar. As an anonymous reviewer posted on Amazon, “Who is the Femme Fatale Online? Read the book to find out. You may never use the internet again!” Have fun reading a story that’s part thriller and a subplot that has elements of romances, where a suspect tries to seduce the hero. Anyone who has ever wondered about the real person behind an SL friend, or suspected they weren’t who they pretended to be, will find the novel particularly engaging.
“Femme Fatale Online” was featured on the cable TV program, “America Trends.” Eugene Rodgers was named Virginia Author of the Year for an earlier book. He researched the background for the novel in SL, where his avatar is “Adolphe Menjou.”

Get your free copy if you appreciate mysteries and don’t object to some racy parts and raw language. And please post a review—even a one-sentence review—on Amazon.

Recently on their "Second Life Community" blog, Linden Lab posted an announcement that their CEO Ebbe Linden, Ebbe Altberg in real life, would be appearing at an inworld Town Hall event. While he would answer questions, Linden Lab asked that they be sent to a community forum thread, and they would pick which ones would be answered.

With SL15B behind us (and SL16B to look forward to!) we thought it was
time to have another Town Hall, and give Residents a chance to ask about
Second Life and hear the latest news on what is being worked on and
planned in Second Life. We’ll also share specific updates on our product development roadmap, as discussed earlier this year.

So far, about two pages of questions (and comments to other posters) have appeared on the thread. Among them are questions related to the return of last names as an option for more recent accounts, to questions of Linden Lab plans to make improvements to Linden homes to "restoring the public economic information that LL once published years ago?"

It's been a while since the Newser wrote about the MORPG Archeage. This game has attracted the attention of a few fans of the paper, notably because of the feline PCs, and it's detailed crafting system. One player, Jasmine Dawn, decided to explore around a little, and seeing the Solis Prison decided to fly over it. Unfortunately, her curiosity got her into a situation that left her feeling a little "cagey." So she took matters into her own hands.

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Some sad news. John McCain, the Vietnam War veteran turned political leader, passed away yesterday on Saturday August 25. He had been suffering from cancer, and had just announced he was no longer continuing his treatment. He was 81.

Besides serving as US Senator for Arizona for six terms, he ran for President twice. In 2008, he succeeded in winning the nomination of the Republican Party for the Presidential Election that year. And like many other things in real life, the election would be reflected inworld with various offices of a number of candidates inworld during the primaries, such as Hillary Clinton's. Although a few politicians such as Newt Gingrich had made appearances in Second Life earlier, these efforts were not the work of the candidates, but their supporters. For supporters of McCain inworld, they would meet at the "Straight Talk Cafe," named for the "Straight Talk Express," an expression of McCain's meaning he would do his best to be straightforward with the voters. The Cafe also handed out McCain t-shirts, such as the one pictured here.

I would write about the election a few times for Second Life Newspaper, such as the watching the Presidential Debates from the Straight Talk Cafe, as well as Cafe Wellstone and Capitol Hill. And occasionally these locations would be mentioned in real life media, such as my local newspaper. I would also write about Election Night on November 4. But due to the stock market crash a few months earlier and resulting economic worries, McCain's campaign would lose much of it's steam, and Obama would win the election. After Second Life Newspaper closed, most of the election articles would vanish from the Internet. What I have left is the Election Night 2008 article, and the t-shirt.

In his concession speech on Election Night 2008, McCain called on Americans to come together. Maybe it's something we need to do a little more often.

Week Ten of the SL15B "Gift Grab" is almost done. For those with the "Swaginator HUD" from the SL15B, there's one day left to get the prize if you haven't gotten it yet. This week's hint is, "Come have a drink at this futuristic bar. This is where the gift will not be too far." The location is the Horizon's Community H-Bar in Horizons Themis (121/194/24).

Unpacking the item, you get a crystal hoverboard. This is a small vehicle that you can control with the arrow keys or viewer movement controls, and can skim over water. Pressing "jump" will boost the board in the air. Doing so a number of times will make it take flight. And yes, it glows in the dark.

Tomorrow is Week Eleven, and after that just four more until the fifteenth and last item.

Friday, August 24, 2018

Treacle Darlandes is a woman of many talents in Second Life. She is known for her artwork and exhibitions, such as those at the Musical Sculpture Gallery mentioned earlier this week in the Newser. But she is particularly proud of her "Walk of Art." She also helps out newcomers to Second Life with her New Resident Island. Deaflegacy recently met up with her, and had questions about these, and more.

Linden Lab is looking for an innovative mobile app engineer to deliver a compelling, responsive mobile interface into Second Life. If you’re passionate about the latest cross platform mobile technologies and would be psyched to wake up every morning knowing that your efforts will enhance the largest, most successful virtual world on the Internet then we want to hear from you!

Among the knowledge and skills needed for the position is "Experience developing consumer-oriented mobile applications for Android and IOS." This would suggest that Linden Lab is getting back into making a viewer for mobile devices, possibly for Android phones and iPhones, but at least for Android-run tablets and iPads.

Inara Pey reminded her readers that Ebbe Linden talked about the issue during the SL15B, saying the Lab was "seeking the right approach for investment in a mobile solution ... we're thinking hard about mobile." Oz and Grumpity Linden did as well, saying "The potential for some kind of mobile solution for Second Life is being discussed." Grumpity had also mentioned the cost to users was a concern, saying the Lab didn't want a moble viewer that would require charging it's viewers a lot. When New World Notes brought up the issue, Will Burns responded in the comments that he had asked Ebbe Linden in his visit to Linden Lab why they didn't buy up OnLive themselves, and stated the answer was that "At the time ... Linden Lab didn't get hands-on with the process. ... it would seem at least *something* I said up there sunk in during my visit." New World Notes would also speculate, " If they're only hiring a Senior Mobile Engineer now, it's probably going to be at least 8-12 months before we see an Alpha version of a mobile viewer for SL."

From Gemma Cleanslate. How did this scrap between people using rubber chickens as weapons started? Gemma would say two of the people bopped one another with the fake fowl on occasion.But this time, they "started passing out the chickens and so it went."

for those here that have not heard. Becky's sister is in the ICU right now, with an Aneurysm and Pneumonia, brought on by a stroke. Long story short, she needs to get to Denver and either help her recover... or prepare for her funeral. There's more to it, here: https://tinyurl.com/y9tywfmv but also, she is going to have a fundraiser the rest of this week. Each fundraiser she is going to offer avatars or the MP Inventory per donation, as a thank you. So join us at MB all this week for that, please. Or you can just straight donate. Thank you.

Becky would also announce she would be offering goods to those who donated to her via Paypal.anyone who donates to my Paypal for this fundraiser, has Tiered options for anything from MP:
Under 5 a single av or mod of your choice.
5-10 dollars gets you an av and mod of your choice.
Over 15 gets you the MP Inventory.
Over 30: Whatever the hell you want from what I've got.

Once again the kind folks of Second Life have pulled through for our extremely wounded veterans! During the month of July, 2018 we sent a little $1050 to Homes For Our Troops. All because of some extra efforts from many giving people in Second Life.

A special thanks goes out to :RGHangnLo Resident and all the folks and VIPs at Hangin's Hideout Curvslater Resident,XxCH3LLZxX and all the folks at Shadow ShoreBellamyLeggett Resident (Kindred Sanctuary)littlebit31okla Resident (Saddles Canyon Country/LuminaRussell65 Resident (MISFITsNC)tbranno Resident (Andrew)All the folks at Tobacco Road Club and Cayleen Linette (Cay's at Woodland Lake)

And once again we cannot forget Dahlea Milena and Gjackie Winkler that are always so dedicated and helpful with our monthly benefit at Veteran’s Isle.

Then we must finally say a great big thank you to the musicians who really give there heart and song to helping us with this effort. A big round of applause goes out to the following performers and their managers:

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

One of Montecito Bay's noted women, Becky Nosferatu, received some bad news on Tuesday Night: her sister was in the hospital.

... a few days ago, my sister was admitted to the hospital complaining
about a headache. It was so bad she was in tears. I didn’t know anything
about this until 3 to midnight on Tuesday, my younger sister called.
Immediately I knew something was wrong; Sam doesn’t call me. Ever. We
text.

They were concerned she was suffering from a stroke. Then they found it was an aneurysm in the brain, one that was bleeding, and her condition was getting worse, eventually becoming critical and in a coma, needing to be hooked up to a machine to breathe.

.. when I found out my sister had been admitted, due to a mild stroke, I
panicked. After that? She was found to have an aneurysm. At the time
they tested it, it wasn’t bleeding. A few more tests later, it was
bleeding.And every day she’s just gotten worse and worse.
Today, I found out she’s in critical condition.She’s in a medical coma,
she can’t breathe on her own, it’s completely by a machine. She’s
paralyzed by the neck down and is getting no oxygen naturally to her
blood.

The doctors are planning a surgery to try and fix the aneurysm. While the oxygen level has began to slowly rise, she's come down with pneumonia. Becky has decided she needs to get to where her sister is, Denver, to be with her in what may be her last moments. But she needs some help paying the way.

I
need to get to Denver. I’m going to wait until after Wednesday to hear
what they’re going to do. If they do the surgery, I’m going to fly out
there. But I need some help paying for it. Any donation is seriously
helpful. You can send me anything to MagicanProductions@gmail.com.

Thanks in advance, even if all you do is pray for her life. Wish us luck.

Becky's sister has a three-year old son, whom has had some kidney trouble, "born with kidneys that
where to small and he ended up having several surgeries as a new born."

Gemma Cleanslate recently went to a unique art gallery in Second Life, the Musical Sculpture Gallery. Featuring the work of several artists, the exhibits are interactive, reacting when you walk to them. While there, Gemma had a chance to chat with to one of the artists, Treacle Darlandes.

Klaus Bereznyak heard about a small art gallery in the mainland sim of Coniston about to close, the Wheedle Gallery. The owner, Wheedle Resident, is something of a colorful character, saying the reasons for the closing were not having to maintain a larger gallery elsewhere, but his campaign for Second Life Governor. Klaus would take a closer look at both the man and his small gallery.

In Tyche Shepjerd's latest Grid status report in the Second Life Universe forums, he found something interesting on the northern part of the map. There's a new area made up of eighty sims, named from SSP1 to SSP 80. The landscape appears to be a mix of sea, river, flat land, and hills. I couldn't get into them, so apparently they're closed to most. Most likely, these are run by Linden Lab, possibly as part of some upcoming project.

Tyche also noted the number of private sims went up by 18. Looking at past recent weeks, on August 12 he reported no change in the number over the past seven days. On August 5, there was an increase of 28 private sims (including 12 academic). July 29 saw an addition of one private sim. July 22 had a loss of 20, but if one leaves out the Relay for Life track sims, the number would have been an increase of eight private sims. For July 15, there were 35 more private sims than the week before. For the week before, it was 34. So five out of the past seven weeks have seen a small increase.in the number of private sims.

So it appears that Linden Lab's tier reduction that took effect July 1 may have halted the overall long slow decline in the number of private sims over the past several years. There could be other factors at work, such as increased interest in virtual worlds, new users of virtual worlds whom looked at Sansar or VR Chat first and moved on from them to Second Life, more Second Life residents with better confidence about the economy in real life, or perhaps some combination of these. We'll know more as the months go on, but for now there is reason for optimism.

As for the eighty SSP sim region, Linden Lab will probably have an announcement concerning it soon.

BRING ON THE TENTACLES!It's time for LOVEFEST 2018, the annual fund-fest for Innsmouth - SL's celebration of H.P. Lovecraft. How could we resist? That and more. Join us this week in #secondlife, live in voice.

Monday, August 20, 2018

How many of you as a kid would spend many moments looking up at the clouds? Klaus Bereznyak recently came across an art exhibition by Paula Cloudpainter. As an artist, Paula lives up to her Second Life name by doing artwork on clouds, both pictures and photography. Klaus went to her exhibit at the Visions of Beauty Gallery to take a look.

First impressions, while not everything, can mean a lot. And for Second Life, the first impression new users get is Learning Island. Having been around since 2013, they're part of a two-step process in which new arrivals first arrive in a place only they can be, and after some basic instructions head on to Social Island to continue their orientation, though possibly with the guidance with established residents. In 2017, they were remodeled with a new look. In a recent article in Modem World, Inara Pey stated over the past few months there's been something new in development by Linden Lab: themed Learning Islands.

The idea is that Linden Lab will run various Internet advertisements with a certain theme, such as the science-fiction one pictured in Inara's article. Clicking on the ad brings up a page in the theme of the ad, and those signing up through it will be taken to a Learning Island that is in the style of the theme of the ad and page. These are not yet complete, still in the testing stage as Brett Linden told her.

Linden Lab is still in the early weeks of testing the concept of Themed Learning Islands. The initiative began quietly a month or so ago with a Romance-themed island test that is not currently active. Next up is a Sci-Fi-themed learning island that we’ll begin testing very soon. We’re also looking at several other themes for future tests, [and] it is also possible that we’ll revise the Romance and Sci-Fi themes as we gather more data on them.

Besides the themed ad campaign and sign-up process, the Lab will be looking into just how well it is working. It will also be looking at smaller elements as to what works and what doesn't, such as offering the new user a lot of information or having them find out more on their own. Patch Linden would state the new Learning Islands would not usually be open to established residents during testing.

We actually want to discourage public access to the islands while in testing so that our statistics, measuring and data-gathering don’t get influenced by having the islands inundated with established users coming into them and possibly preventing new users from naturally proceeding through the anticipated test flow. That way, we can gather as accurate information as possible on what’s happening in terms of acquisition and retention against everything else.

Talking to Brett, Patch, and Leira Linden, Inara came to the conclusion that the Lab was making a more intensive effort at user retention than before, "One thing that struck me ... is just what is going into user acquisition and attempts to improve user retention, when it is perhaps a little to easy to assume the Lab is just “tinkering without understanding”. Considerable thought is being put into trying to increase new user engagement and retention, and it does involve a lot of number crunching, analysis, and trying to build on what is shown to work, as well as trying entirely new approaches. ...it’s clear from talking to Brett, Keira and Patch that the Lab is pouring a lot of effort into this approach, as well as looking at other avenues of user acquisition and retention."

The earliest effort at the newbie experience, Orientation Island, was estimated to have only a ten percent retention rate. Destination Island, which was around from 2012 to 2013, was a bare-bones experience that was much more confusing and frustrating to new users and most likely had a much lower retention rate. Why a fair experience was replaced with a bad one back then, one can only speculate at the reasons why. But it's clear several years later, Linden Lab is making a much more serious effort to not just bring new people into Second Life, but to make a good first impression in the first hour or two that can make all the difference in which a new user decides whether or not to keep coming back.

Most new residents to Second Life need a helping hand. And one place they've gone to for help and guidance is "The Shelter." It was on August 20, 2004, Travis Lambert and Lars Bismark established the place. While it didn't start out as a newcomer helping place, with people bringing in newbies to the location, it eventually focused on helping them. For most of it's history, it has been in it's current location in the Isabel sim.

The Shelter is doing a couple things to celebrate it's birthday. At 1PM today, they will be having a music event with DJ Spug Shinn. They are also giving out copies of a vehicle.

To read the Newser's article on The Shelter from March 2011, Click Here.

It seems a new name has been picked for InWorldz's successor. On the Discord group of the now-defunct virtual world, it was announced that the name of the future grid of it's owners will be called "Islandz."

There's little more information about the new world. As of the writing of this article, they have yet to get a webpage for it, although that is likely to soon change. The name of the Discord group has been changed to that of the planned grid. The website of InWorldz itself went down almost two weeks ago. Beth Reischl/Elenia did say on Sunday August 19 that she "started setup for Database recovery this morning. ... As soon as we have Database backup ... we can work on the OARS" There has been no date set for the opening of Islandz.

A number of events took place this weekend. At the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, the Ferragosto festival look place. At the Middle Earth sim was a Woodstock tribute. It was also the start of the "Lovefest" which will go on for several more days.

Saturday, August 18, 2018

From SL4Live on June 16, Press Day of the Second Life Fifteenth Birthday. Apparently, someone decided to play some music, people joined in, and SL4Live kept the camera rolling for an unplanned impromptu video.

Friday, August 17, 2018

There's an old joke from somewhere that no one truly remembers Woodstock; if you were there you were too stoned to recall it. For those wanting to relive the experience, Gemma Cleanslate found out about a tribute to this event in music history. For three days starting on Saturday August 18, this event organized by FrannyDJ Dean will offer "Peace, Love, and Music," with tunes from both the 60s and today. Following that, the event changes to "Woodstock Summerfest 2018" which lasts until Labor Day.

Today marks the start of the "Lovefest 2018" festival, a yearly event by and for fans of the stories of HP Lovecraft. The nine-day event offers shopping, music concerts, and an adventure, "The Path to Madness."

Along with the shops and event schedule, visitors may opt travel to Arkham, Massachusetts, there to delve into a mystery!

Find yourself at the notorious Arkham Sanitarium, where a particular
patient is beset with a dark, quite disturbing mental affliction…

Discover clues as to what brought this pathetic lunatic to his state
of crazed despair, and follow a trail of clues. Find yourself at places
such as the prestigious Miskatonic Univerity, or the back alleys of
some less-traveled, shadier parts of town. Perhaps a journey to Dunwich
village or the dread fishing port of Innsmouth is in order, maybe even
further off beyond New England.

One thing is certain, insanity lurks in many places. Is there
something to be learned? Are there grave things lurking, incubating as a
result of the careless delvings of a too-curious soul? Is there even a
soul still to be had by this hapless individual?

Will you find your way, and unravel the secrets along the Path to Madness?

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Yesterday, Wednesday August 15, was the twelfth anniversary of a popular brand of furry avatar: Kinzart Productions, often called Kinzart Kreetures or KZK. The event went from 3-5PM SL time, and attracted a large crowd, with 64 people in the sim at one point.

Becky Nosferatu of Montecito Bay was the DJ for the packed event, despite a few technical difficulties, she persisted and the crowd was patient for her. At the end of the two hours, she spoke to the crowd, saying she'd been in Second Life for years and had enjoyed every avatar she'd gotten from the "talented artists," her current avatar being a modified KZK, "It's been an honor ot be your DJ tonight ...get it through ... all your happy customers. I hope to see you again soon, fantastic party indeed. Rock on guys!"

On Saturday August 11 at Noon, the crew of the Second Life Newser had their monthly meeting. From left to right there was Kain Scalia, whom is about to rejoin, Gemma Cleanslate, Deaflegacy, and myself (Bixyl Shuftan). Velanai, Pagan Sunfire, and Felina Firmi were there as guests. The meeting took place at the Newser office in Purrfection.

We talked about some things, such as the collapse of InWorldz and how some questions have yet to be answered or are just beginning to get one. We also swapped ideas on what to cover that month.